JP2016005969A - Package container filled with fluid content - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a package container filled with a fluid content, capable of efficiently forming a fluid film on an inner face of the container.SOLUTION: Provided is a package container filled with a fluid content, characterized in that: in an unused state and a standing state, a head space exists in the package container, and on a portion excluding the head space, a fluid film formed of a fluid different from the fluid content, is selectively formed.

Description

The present invention relates to a packaging container fluid content is filled.

  Plastic containers are widely used in various applications because they are easy to mold and can be manufactured at low cost. In particular, a bottle-shaped olefin resin container in which the inner surface of the container wall is formed of an olefin resin such as low density polyethylene and is formed by direct blow molding is a viscous material such as ketchup from the viewpoint that the contents can be easily squeezed out. It is suitably used as a container for containing a slurry-like or paste-like fluid content.

  Also, for bottles containing highly viscous fluid contents, store the bottles in an inverted state so that the contents can be discharged quickly or used up to the end without remaining in the bottle. In many cases. Therefore, when the bottle is turned upside down, there is a demand for the characteristic that the viscous contents do not remain attached to the inner wall surface of the bottle and fall quickly.

As a bottle satisfying such requirements, for example, Patent Document 1 proposes a bottle having a multilayer structure in which an innermost layer is made of an olefin resin having an MFR (melt flow rate) of 10 g / 10 min or more.
In this multi-layered bottle, the innermost layer has excellent wettability to oily contents. As a result, when the bottle is inverted or tilted, the oily contents such as mayonnaise spread along the innermost surface. However, it can be discharged neatly without dropping and remaining attached to the inner wall surface of the bottle (the innermost layer surface).

  In addition, regarding a bottle for viscous non-oil content in which plant fibers such as ketchup are dispersed in water, Patent Document 2 or Patent Document 3 describes a saturated or unsaturated aliphatic amide as a lubricant in the innermost layer. There has been proposed a polyolefin resin bottle in which is blended.

  Patent Documents 1 to 3 mentioned above all improve the slipperiness with respect to the contents by the chemical composition of the thermoplastic resin composition forming the inner surface of the plastic container, and a certain degree of slipperiness improvement is achieved. However, since the types and additives of the thermoplastic resin to be used are limited, there is a limit in improving the slipperiness, and the fact is that a dramatic improvement has not been achieved.

On the other hand, recently, a container has been proposed in which the inner surface of the container, that is, the surface in contact with the contents is a liquid-permeable surface, and a liquid (liquid) is held on the liquid-permeable surface (patent). Reference 4). In such a container, a liquid film of liquid is formed at a portion where the fluid container contents come into contact, and the slipperiness with respect to the fluid contents such as ketchup, sauce, mayonnaise is remarkably enhanced.
However, in this type of container, there remains a problem of how to efficiently form a thin liquid film that is formed to improve the slipperiness with the contents.

For example, after forming a container, a means is generally used to form a liquid film by spraying a liquid on a portion that comes into contact with the contents, and then filling the contents. Prior to filling the contents, a process of forming a liquid film of liquid is required, and thus a reduction in productivity is inevitable. In addition, if an attempt is made to form a liquid film uniformly in the container by such means, it is necessary to spray a larger amount of liquid than necessary, and as a result, a liquid pool tends to occur in the container, and the thickness of the liquid film is increased. There is also a problem that large variations are likely to occur.
The present applicant has also proposed means for forming a liquid film by mixing a liquid with the resin forming the inner surface of the container (Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-23468, PCT / JP2014 / 052879). Such a method does not need to provide a step of forming a liquid film before filling the contents, and is satisfactory in terms of productivity. However, the liquid film on the inner surface of the container is formed from a blend resin that forms an inner layer. Therefore, there is a case where the thickness of the liquid film is considerably reduced, and it is difficult to reliably control the thickness of the liquid film.

JP 2007-284066 A JP 2008-222291 A JP 2009-214914 A WO2014-010534

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a packaging container filled with a flowable content and filled with a flowable content capable of efficiently forming a liquid film on the inner surface of the container . There is to do.

In the packaging container of the present invention, the fluid content is filled into the container by the following filling method.
That is, prepare a liquid different from the fluid content,
The fluid content is filled by filling at least a part of the outer periphery with the fluid content covered with the liquid or the liquid mixture containing the fluid and the fluid content .
In such a filling method,
(1) the liquid is a liquid immiscible with the flowable content;
(2) discharging a multi-layer filling in which the core layer is a fluid content and the outermost layer is formed of the liquid or the liquid mixture;
(3) starting filling in a state where the discharge tip of the fluid content is covered with the liquid or the liquid mixture;
(4) using a multi-tube nozzle comprising a central tube and an annular tube formed so as to surround the central tube;
By allowing the multi-tube nozzle to enter the container, discharging the flowable content from a central tube of the multi-tube nozzle, and discharging the liquid or the liquid mixture from an annular tube of the multi-tube nozzle, Filling the fluid content into a container;
(5) As the filling amount of the fluid content in the container increases, the liquid or the liquid mixture and the fluid content are discharged while gradually pulling out the multi-tube nozzle from the container. To do,
(6) discharging the liquid or the liquid mixture at a timing faster than the start of discharging the fluid content from the central tube;
Is preferred.

In the packaging container of the present invention filled with the fluid content as described above,
In the unused and upright state, a head space exists in the packaging container, and a liquid film made of a liquid different from the fluid content is selectively formed in a portion excluding the head space. It is characterized by that.
In such packaging containers,
(7) The liquid film is a liquid immiscible with the fluid content,
(8) The container is a bottle-shaped or pouch-shaped container,
Is preferred.

In the above filling method , filling of the fluid contents into the container and formation of a liquid film of a liquid (for example, surface modification liquid) are performed at the same time, so that the productivity is reduced due to the work for forming the liquid film. It can be effectively avoided.
Further, in the packaging container of the present invention in which the fluid content is filled in the container by such a method, the fluid content is filled in the container in a state of being wrapped in the liquid film of the liquid, so that the container is filled. A liquid film always exists between the flowable content and the inner surface of the container. As a result, the effect of improving the slipperiness of the flowable content by the liquid is reliably and stably exhibited.
Furthermore, when a bottle-shaped container is filled with a fluid content, a space called a head space is usually formed in the container. However, when the filling method of the present invention is applied, a liquid liquid is formed. When the container is unused and upright, the film is selectively formed in the region where the contents are present, and the liquid film is not formed in the head space. That is, in the present invention, since the liquid film is formed only in the region necessary for improving the slipperiness of the fluid content, an increase in cost more than necessary can be effectively avoided.

The fragmentary sectional view which shows the state of the inner surface of the packaging container of this invention . The figure which shows the state of the empty container of the direct blow bottle which is the most suitable form of the packaging container which has the cross section of FIG. The perspective view which shows the front-end | tip part of the multiple nozzle used for the filling method employ | adopted in order to obtain the packaging container of FIG. Explanatory drawing for demonstrating the filling method employ | adopted in order to obtain the packaging container of FIG.

<Form of packaging container>
Referring to FIG. 1 showing the state of the inner surface of the packaging container of the present invention , this container has a liquid liquid film 3 for modifying the surface formed on the inner surface of a plastic container base 1, and this The liquid film 3 is filled with a fluid content. That is, in the filling method of the present invention, the formation of the liquid film 3 and the filling of the fluid content are performed substantially simultaneously.

The container base 1 has a structure that can stably hold the liquid film 3 formed on the inner surface of the container base 1. Examples of the form of the container base include resin, glass, paper, and metal. Among these, it is preferable to have a structure in which the inner surface is formed of a resin that allows liquid to permeate appropriately and improves the affinity between the liquid and the container base, thereby effectively avoiding liquid dropout.
Examples of the resin include thermoplastics that can be molded into the shape of a container, such as polyesters represented by polyethylene terephthalate and olefinic resins, and particularly viscous fluids that require improved slipperiness. From the viewpoint of being suitably used for molding of containers filled with the contents, such as direct blow containers, olefin resins, particularly low density polyethylene, linear low density polyethylene, medium or high density polyethylene, polypropylene, poly It is formed of 1-butene, poly-4-methyl-1-pentene, or the like. Of course, random or block copolymers of α-olefins such as ethylene, propylene, 1-butene and 4-methyl-1-pentene are also suitable, and further disclosed in JP-A No. 2007-284066 and the like. It may be a cyclic olefin copolymer.

  In addition, the container base 1 is not limited to a single layer structure as long as the inner surface is formed of the above-described thermoplastic plastic, and other layers such as resin, glass, paper, and metal are formed on the resin layer forming the inner surface. You may have the multilayered structure in which the layer was formed.

  In the multilayer structure as described above, for example, an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (saponified ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer), an aromatic polyamide, etc. as an intermediate layer between the inner and outer layers formed from the olefin-based resin described above It is preferable to provide a gas barrier layer formed using the above gas barrier resin, and it is most preferable to provide a gas barrier layer made of an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer. That is, an oxygen barrier property can be imparted by providing a gas barrier layer as an intermediate layer. In particular, an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer exhibits a particularly excellent oxygen barrier property, and therefore oxidative deterioration of the contents due to oxygen permeation can be achieved. It can suppress effectively and can secure the outstanding contents preservation nature.

  Further, when the gas barrier layer as described above is provided, it is preferable to provide an adhesive resin layer in order to enhance adhesion with the inner and outer layers and prevent delamination. Thereby, the gas barrier layer of the intermediate layer can be firmly fixed to the inner and outer layers. Adhesive resins used for forming such an adhesive resin layer are known per se. For example, a carbonyl group (> C═O) is 1 to 100 meq / 100 g resin in the main chain or side chain, particularly 10 to 100 meq / 100 g. Resin contained in the amount of resin, specifically, olefin resin graft-modified with carboxylic acid such as maleic acid, itaconic acid, fumaric acid or its anhydride, amide, ester, etc .; ethylene-acrylic acid copolymer; An ion-crosslinked olefin copolymer; an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer; and the like are used as the adhesive resin.

The thickness of the container substrate 1 is set so that desired strength, flexibility, possibility, squeeze property, and the like can be expressed according to the shape of the container. For example, in a plastic direct blow container suitably used for filling viscous contents, the thickness is set to about 100 to 800 μm.
In the case of a multilayer structure, the suitable thickness of the gas barrier layer (intermediate layer) is generally in the range of 1 to 50 μm, particularly 9 to 40 μm. The thickness of the adhesive resin layer described above has an appropriate adhesive strength. It may be obtained to the extent that it is generally 0.5 to 20 μm, preferably about 1 to 8 μm.

  Furthermore, in the container base 1 having a multilayer structure, a regrind layer can be formed by mixing scrap resin generated when molding the container with the outermost layer forming resin of virgin as any one of the multilayer layers. . In this case, from the viewpoint of recycling resources while maintaining moldability, the amount of scrap resin is preferably about 10 to 60 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the virgin outermost resin. The thickness of such an outermost adjacent layer varies depending on the size of the packaging container, the type of contents, etc., but the total thickness of the container wall does not become more than necessary, and the scrap resin can be effectively used. In general, the thickness is set to about 20 to 400 μm.

Examples of the container used in the present invention include pouches, bottles, and cups. In the present invention, since the liquid film 3 improves the slipperiness (slidability) of the fluid content, as described above, there is a direct blow container that can easily discharge the viscous content by squeeze. FIG. 2 shows a state of an empty container immediately after molding such a food direct blow container.
This empty container as a whole has a mouth portion 13 provided with a screw or the like at the top, and a blow portion 15 connected to the mouth portion 13 is formed so as to close the trunk portion and the trunk portion. It has.
In addition, a closing portion 17 that closes the mouth portion 13 is formed at the upper portion of the mouth portion 13. The closed portion 17 is supplied with a small hole 17a into which a supply pipe for supplying a blowing fluid in blow molding is inserted. The small hole 17 a communicates with the inside of the empty container 10.
That is, a pipe-shaped preform whose bottom portion is closed by pinch-off is formed by extrusion (extrusion molding) of a molten resin (melting resin for molding) as in a conventionally known method, and is formed on this preform. The direct blow molded container is formed by supplying a blowing fluid into the preform maintained at a predetermined blow molding temperature from the small hole 17a and shaping the preform into a container shape.

  Of course, when forming a container different from the direct blow container, a test tube-shaped preform is formed by injection molding or the like, and a blow fluid is blown at a predetermined stretch molding temperature to form a biaxial stretch blow molding. By performing and shaping into a container form, an empty container filled with the contents is obtained.

<Liquid and fluid contents>
The liquid film 3 formed on the inner surface of the container is formed of a liquid (slidability improving liquid) that is immiscible with the fluid content filled in the container and improves the slipperiness (slidability) of the fluid content. Is done.
That is, if it is miscible with the contents, the liquid mixes with the contents, drops off from the inner surface of the container, and the liquid film 3 collapses.
In addition, the liquid that is immiscible with the content and improves the slipperiness of the content is not miscible with the content and is roughly an oleophilic liquid with respect to the aqueous content. The water content is water or a hydrophilic liquid. In general, a liquid in which the liquid film 3 is maintained in an amount of 0.1 g / m ² or more, particularly 0.5 g / m ² or more in a state where the contents are filled in the container may be used as the liquid. . In particular, the surface tension with respect to the inner surface of the container greatly differs from the surface tension with respect to the contents, so that the lubrication effect is high, which is suitable for the present invention.

  In the present invention, the fluid content contained in the container is preferably a fluid material that exhibits fluidity without exhibiting form-retaining properties in order to maximize the advantage of slipperiness due to the liquid film 3. , Viscous pastes or slurry-like fluid substances (for example, those having a viscosity at 25 ° C. of 100 mPa · s or more), specifically makeup such as ketchup, aqueous glue, honey, various sauces, mayonnaise, milky lotion, etc. Liquids, liquid detergents, shampoos, rinses, conditioners and the like are suitable. That is, in the present invention, since the liquid film 3 exhibits good slipperiness, even such a viscous fluid substance can be left on the inner surface of the container by being tilted or inverted by being tilted or inverted. This is because it can be discharged quickly. In particular, in the above-described direct blow container for food, the contents are squeezed out by squeezing the body portion, so that ketchup and mayonnaise are accommodated as the contents.

In the present invention, as a specific example of the liquid selected according to the type of contents contained in the container, for example, the liquid that is most suitably used for moisture-containing contents (for example, ketchup or sauce) Examples thereof include silicone oil, glycerin fatty acid ester, liquid paraffin, and edible fats and oils. Particularly preferred are glycerin fatty acid esters represented by medium chain fatty acid triglycerides, glycerin trioleate and glycerin diacetomonooleate, liquid paraffin, and edible fats and oils. These are less likely to volatilize, are approved as food additives, are odorless, and do not impair the flavor of the contents.
For oily contents, water or a highly hydrophilic ionic liquid or the like is used as the liquid on the condition that the boiling point is within the above range.
Furthermore, silicone oil, glycerin fatty acid ester, liquid paraffin, edible fats and the like are suitably used as liquids for emulsifying fluid substances.

<Filling of contents and formation of liquid film>
In the present invention, the liquid film 3 is formed on the container substrate 1 having the above-described form substantially simultaneously with the filling of the fluid content. Although the present invention is not limited to this, a specific example will be described using the multi-tube nozzle 20 having the structure shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 3, the multiple tube nozzle 20 includes a center tube 21 and an annular tube 23 formed on the outside so as to surround the center tube 21. That is, the central tube 21 is used as a core layer for filling a fluid content, and the annular tube 23 is used as an outermost layer for supplying liquid.

  The filling of the contents and the formation of the liquid film 3 using the multi-tube nozzle 20 are performed according to the process shown in FIG.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4A, the multi-tube nozzle 20 is inserted into the empty container 30 (for example, the closed portion 17 cut from the empty container 10 shown in FIG. 2), and the central tube The filling of the fluid content 31 from 21 and the supply of the liquid 33 from the annular tube 23 are started. At this time, the supply of the liquid 33 is started slightly before the filling of the fluid content 31. That is, the fluid content 31 is filled in a state where the tip of the central tube 21 of the multi-tube nozzle 20 is covered with the liquid 33.
When the fluid content 31 is filled in this way, the fluid content 31 is supplied to the inside of the empty container 30 while being covered with the liquid 33 as shown in FIG. It will be done.

  In this way, the fluid content 31 is filled, and as the filling amount increases, the content 31 (and the liquid 33) filled around the multi-tube nozzle 20 is prevented from flowing around as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4B, the multi-tube nozzle 20 is gradually pulled up, and when a predetermined amount of the content 31 is filled, the filling of the content 31 and the supply of the liquid 33 are stopped. As shown in FIG. 4, the multi-tube nozzle 20 is pulled out of the empty container 30 to complete the filling of the contents 31 and the supply of the liquid 33. Finally, the upper end of the empty container 30 is covered with a lid or the like. By sealing, a packaging container filled with the intended fluid content 31 is obtained.

  In the packaging container obtained in this way, as shown in FIG. 4 (c), a liquid film of liquid 33 is always formed between the contents 31 and the inner surface of the container (30). Therefore, the improvement in slipperiness due to such a liquid film is surely expressed without variation.

In the above operation, the supply speed of the liquid 33 and the filling speed of the contents 31 may be set so that the thickness of the liquid film by the liquid 33 falls within an appropriate range. For example, the filling speed of the contents 31 is high. It should be set so that the liquid film of the surrounding liquid 33 does not break.
As described above, it is possible to discharge a multi-layered filling composed of a fluid content in the core layer and a liquid in the outermost layer. In the filling method according to the present invention, it is sufficient to fill the fluid content in which at least a part of the outer periphery is covered with the liquid, and as a method other than the method described above, the fluid content is supplied on the upstream side. The liquid 33 is joined and the multilayer filling is discharged. Alternatively, the liquid content may be coated or sprayed with a mist-like liquid after discharging.

In order to make it difficult to break the liquid film of the liquid 33, it is preferable to use a liquid 33 having a viscosity of the liquid 33 smaller than that of the contents 31 at the filling temperature. By setting the viscosity of the liquid 33 to be smaller than the viscosity of the contents 31, the liquid 33 can easily follow deformation due to the low viscosity of the liquid 33 even when the filling speed of the contents 31 is increased. This is because the liquid film can be effectively prevented from being broken.
Furthermore, the surface tension of the liquid 33 is preferably smaller than the surface tension of the contents 31. By setting the surface tension of the liquid 33 to be smaller than the surface tension of the content 31, the liquid 33 is likely to wet and spread on the content 31 at the time of filling, which is also the filling speed of the content 31. This is because it is effective to prevent the liquid film from being broken by the liquid 33 even when the liquid crystallinity increases.

According to such a filling method of the present invention, the filling of the fluid contents 31 and the formation of the liquid film of the liquid 33 are performed at the same time, so that a reduction in productivity due to the operation for forming the liquid film can be avoided. . Further, the thickness of the liquid film can be adjusted by simple adjustment of the contents 31 and the supply speed of the liquid 33.
Furthermore, as can be understood from FIG. 4 (c), the head container 40 is usually formed in the packaging container obtained in this way. In the present invention, the liquid film of the liquid 33 is the container. Is not used and is in an upright state, it is selectively formed only in the region where the contents 31 are present, and no liquid film is formed in the head space. Therefore, the usage amount of the liquid 33 can be minimized, and an increase in cost can be effectively avoided.

  In the above example, it is optimal to use a slipperiness improving liquid that is immiscible with the above-described contents as the liquid 33. However, a liquid mixture of such a slipperiness improving liquid and a fluid content is used. Can also be used. In this case, the liquid mixture is discharged from the annular tube 23 and covers the fluid content 31 discharged from the center tube 21. However, such a coating layer is phase-separated and the fluidity in the liquid mixture is The content is integrated with the fluid content 31 from the central tube 21, and the slipperiness improving liquid is ejected to the outer layer to form a liquid film.

  The above-described filling method has been described by taking a bottle-shaped container as an example. However, as long as the contents 31 can be filled and the liquid 33 can be supplied using the multi-tube nozzle 20, the bottle-shaped container is limited to such a bottle-shaped container. Needless to say, the filling method of the present invention can be applied to other types of containers, for example, bag-shaped containers.

1: Container base 3: Liquid film 10: Empty container 13: Mouth part 15: Blow molding part 17: Blocking part 20: Multiple pipe nozzle 21: Central pipe 23: Circular pipe 30: Empty container 31: Flowable contents 33: liquid

Claims (3)

In packaging containers filled with fluid content,
In the unused and upright state, a head space exists in the packaging container, and a liquid film made of a liquid different from the fluid content is selectively formed in a portion excluding the head space. A packaging container characterized by that. The packaging container according to claim 1 , wherein the liquid film is formed of a liquid that is immiscible with the fluid content. The packaging container according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the container is a bottle-shaped or pouch-shaped container.